Friday, September 30, 2011

Has it really been a month already?!?

Wow! The time sure flies by! We've had a busy month of September. A wedding, camping without the twins, me on a weekend craft retreat & then Jarrod working the weekend we have been running! This month our small group started back up & so did AWANA. I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. Looks like I better be a better blogger in October. :)

The wedding was fun - we all danced. S decided she really, really likes The Cha Cha Slide. It's pretty fun & she does wonderful job following the directions - Jump 1 time! The boy-os were amazed with all the lights at the DJ booth and were adored by every little girl there. I'm glad neither likes to be picked up right now as it makes it easy to say, "No, you can't hold them. They don't like to be picked up." Lil'J was another story. He only wanted to play with the few toys that Grandma brought. I was thankful that he was kept busy, but I know that he really likes to dance . . . so I was a little disappointed.

Camping . . . something was missing. We left the boy-os home with G&G and I really felt it. My family was not complete & it was pretty difficult for me to truly enjoy myself. I wasn't worried about the twins. I knew they were in good hands. But Jarrod, Lil'J, S & I did have large amounts of fun. We found a frog on a night walk around the campground. Campfires were fun - the 2 kids enjoyed watching me cook on them & throwing sticks in the fire(with permission). We spent a morning hiking, a full afternoon at the beach & the following morning packing up, followed by a trip to the nature center. We also have a tradition, started 3 years ago on our first family camping trip, that we do something train related. Our first year we went to a train museum, the second year we went to a miniature scale RR & this year we went to a restaurant that served your food by train.

My weekend away was wonderful! I accomplished alot. I finished a bag I'm working on as a gift. I made a T-shirt for one of the staff & . . . I FINISHED MY QUILT TOP!! I don't have any photos yet. BOOO! The time with my girls was refreshing & energizing! I have missed them so this summer! Getting away helped me relax, catch up on some sleep & arrive home ready to chase & coach my kids again.

The last weekend in September, Jarrod worked. Those weekends are always long. Thankfully he takes the following Monday off so the kids can have some Daddy time.

And now, it's October?!?! WOW!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Lil's J's Top 5 Reasons for Attending Public School

1. I get to ride a school bus.
In reality, you don't. We are considered close enough to walk. Though, in 4K students do take the bus, which is why we see our neighbor hop on the bus every morning.

2. I get a bigger desk.
No honey, you actually would get a smaller one.

3. I get a desk that lifts up.
Maybe . . . depends on the school & possibly even the classroom.

4. I won't have Mom's pile of stuff on my desk.
Yes, this is true. But, it's technically your pile of stuff honey. It's all school & your desk is a good place for it. If you wan the extra space I'll be happy to move the pile while you are working - you just need to ask me.

5. I'll get more play time.
Possibly, but at school, they consider play time a hands-on learning time. You get plenty of that around here, plus the freedom to choose(within reason) when you want to do certain activities .

Friday, September 2, 2011

The End of Week 4 . . . err . . . 3

As I mentioned in my last post, we're a little behind where I would like us to be. We are just finishing up week three in the Core (Bible, history, literature), week 2 w/ science & readers. But with the read-out-loud's(literature) we're in week 5. We just finished My Father's Dragon. Since we're so far ahead there, I went to the library & picked up the two sequels, Elmer & the Dragon and The Dragon's of Blueland. We've gotten halfway through Elmer - the kids bring it to me about 5 times a day asking me to keep reading. We're all terrible at putting down a good book.
Science is going well, except for the experiments(you think that part would be easy for me, being a former science teacher & all . ..). Lil'J is just eating up everything. One thing that I did w/ his science - I took all the worksheets & put them in a binder. Whenever we do a science related activity or project I hole punch it & add it right into the binder. Hopefully it will be portfolio-ish when we're through. When we do experiments, I plan on having him draw a picture of what we did & then have him explain to me what he learned while I act as a scribe. Those will also go in the binder.
This week we spent lots of time coloring or writing with pencils. At one point, Stella says, "Mom, I'm gonna wight your name." I make eye contact, nod & keep up w/ my kitchen cleaning not thinking much of S's ability to write yet. A few minutes later she proudly announces, "Look, Mom! I wrote your name!" I looked as all good Moms should do, but to my surprise I actually saw "MOM" on the paper!! I about fell over. She then informed me that the picture was of me & that the other 'writing' on the paper was "I Love You!" I love her!
It's recipe time again! This will be the second recipe I've posted, but it is one of our absolute summer favorites! Chicken Penne Salad! I don't give amounts here because I've stopped using all measuring devices when I make this. I go by what I know we as a family like. At times I make it with less pasta - when DH is concerned about calories. Other times I make it with a whole box of pasta because the kids gobble the noodles faster than anything else in the salad. This summer though, my kids started eating lettuce salads, so this has been an hit w/ the whole family!
Chicken Penne Salad
box of Penne Pasta, cooked, drained, rinsed (I use whole wheat pastas)
romaine lettuce
cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
basil, chopped
parsley, chopped (I often substitute dried b/c I forget to pick it up at the store or was so distracted I grabbed cilantro instead)
garlic, minced or grated w/ a microplane grater
green onions, diced
chicken, preferably boneless, cooked or grilled & cubed or cut in strips
Cardini's Caesar dressing (You're going to have to trust me on this one!)
In a large bowl, toss all except for the dressing. Let each person add their own dressing, as some prefer more or less. For awhile my kids would only eat Ranch . . . I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!